Machine for bonding an adhesive protective edging on the edge of a multilayer panel such as a spacecraft heat shield

ABSTRACT

The protection of the straight edges of multilayer panels (10), such as spacecraft thermal protection panels or heat shields, is ensured by an adhesive protection edging (14) having two adhesive, lateral zones bonded to the faces of the panel and a non-adhesive zone (18) placed on the edge of the panel. Following the removal of a non-adhesive protection (30b), a first adhesive, lateral zone (20b) is brought onto a working plane (22), through a slot (32), and is progressively bonded to the lower face of a panel (10) moving on said plane. The second lateral, adhesive zone is then turned down and pressed onto the upper face of the panel, after which the non-adhesive protection (30a) of said zone is removed.

This is a divisional of application Ser. No. 08/210,304, filed on Mar.17, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,514,238.

DESCRIPTION

The invention relates to a process making it possible to bond anadhesive protective edging to a straight edge of a multilayer panel suchas a panel to be used as the thermal protection of a spacecraft(satellite, orbiting station, etc.). The invention also relates to amachine performing this process.

The sensitive parts of spacecraft such as satellites or orbitingstations are usually covered with multilayer heat protection blankets orpanels. These panels protect the aforementioned sensitive parts againstthe extreme temperature variations to which they are exposed, dependingon whether or not they are oriented towards the sun. Such heatprotection panels are normally referred to as "superinsulation". Theyare formed from a stack of extremely thin sheets usually made fromplastic materials such as MILAN, KAPTON or DACRON (registeredtrademarks), which may or may not be metallized. The number of layers isdependent on the thermal protection which it is wished to obtain.

Bearing in mind the nature of certain of the materials located withinthe stack forming such a multilayer panel, it is essential to protectthe edge of the panel, so that it is not exposed directly to the vacuumor solar radiation. Thus, such an exposure would have the effect ofrapidly disintegrating certain materials, which would immediately renderinoperative the optical systems carried on the craft. This is clearlynot admissible, bearing in mind the cost of spacecraft.

It is also important that the protection of the edge of the panel isbrought about without creating heat bridges between the different sheetsforming it, because otherwise there would be a significant reduction inthe effectiveness of the thermal protection.

The protection of the edge of multilayer panels of this type is normallyobtained by bonding along each of the edges of said panel an adhesiveprotective edging. More specifically, said adhesive protective edging isformed from a very wide adhesive strip, in the centre of which is bondeda central, non-adhesive strip. Thus, two lateral, adhesive zones aredefined, which extend over the entire width of the edging and which areintended to be bonded to the opposite faces of the panel along the edgein question. The central, non-adhesive strip is intended to bepositioned facing the panel edge. The thus formed adhesive protectiveedging is stored in wound form, each of the two lateral, adhesive zonesbeing covered by an anti-adhesion protector.

In the present state of the art, a first anti-adhesive protector isremoved and then the corresponding lateral, adhesive zone is manuallybonded to the panel. The latter is then turned round and the secondanti-adhesive protector is in turn removed in order to permit thebonding of the corresponding lateral, adhesive zone of the protectiveedging on the other face of the panel.

In order to avoid the creation of heat bridges between the differentsheets of the panel, it is essential that the bonding of the protectiveedging is carried out without forming creases on the edges of saidsheets. This is very difficult to obtain manually, due to the verylimited thickness of the sheets forming the panels and the presence ofstatic electricity in these sheets, bearing in mind the materials fromwhich they are formed. Thus, when the second lateral, adhesive zone ofthe protective edging is folded onto the panel, the different sheetsforming the latter tend to be attracted by said zone and are bondedthereto in an unsatisfactory position. In order that the bonding issatisfactory, it is therefore necessary to cut the protective edginginto portions of limited length (always less than 100 mm, e.g.approximately 50 mm) and then successively put them into place along thepanel edge.)

The manual bonding of the protective edging on the edges of themultilayer panels is consequently a long and tedious operation, whosecost is high, because in itself this represents approximately 50 to 80%of the cost of the finished panel, as a function of the shapecomplexity.

As illustrated by FR-A-2 618 771, it is known to bond a perforated,auto-adhesive reinforcing strip along the edge of a sheet of paper toone face of the said sheet, by means of a placing apparatus facilitatingthe relative positioning between the reinforcing strip and the sheet.However, the apparatus described in this document does not make itpossible to solve the problem caused by the bonding of an adhesiveprotective edging to the two faces of a multilayer panel, along the edgeof said panel.

The invention specifically relates to a process making it possible tobond an adhesive protective edging to the straight edge of a multilayerpanel such as a spacecraft heat protection panel and over a virtuallyunlimited length, without any risk of creating heat ridges within thepanel and in a particularly simple and inexpensive manner.

According to the invention, this result is obtained by means of aprocess for bonding an adhesive protective edging to a straight edge ofa multilayer panel, characterized in that it comprises the followingstages:

bonding a first lateral, adhesive zone of the edging to a first face ofthe panel, along the straight edge, by depositing said first face of thepanel on a working plane, unwinding the edging from a storage reel,removing a first anti-adhesive protector covering the first lateral,adhesive zone, bringing the latter between the working plane and thefirst face of the panel, so that it is in contact with said first facealong the straight edge of the panel and simultaneous advance of thepanel and the first lateral, adhesive zone on the working plane,

application of a pressure to the panel along the straight edge,

bending the edging in such a way that a second adhesive, lateral zone ofthe latter, covered with a second anti-adhesive protector, is bent ontothe opposite face of the panel and

removing the second anti-adhesive protector whilst maintaining apressure on the panel, along the straight edge.

In this process, in view of the fact that the first lateral, adhesivezone of the protective edging is bonded to the first face of the panelby making the latter advance in the direction defined by its straightedge, the bonding of said first lateral, adhesive zone takes placewithout any difficulty, no matter what its length. Moreover, in view ofthe fact that the adhesive protective edging is folded or bent onto thepanel whilst a pressure is applied thereto and the anti-adhesiveprotector covering the second lateral, adhesive zone of the edging hasnot as yet been removed, the bonding of said second zone is also carriedout without difficulty, no matter what its length, during theprogressive removal of the second anti-adhesive protector.

Advantageously, the straight edge of the panel is guided during itsadvance on the working plane. In a first embodiment of the invention,the bending or folding of the edging is carried out after cutting itsends, the panel then being stationary on the working plane.

However, according to a second embodiment of the invention, the bendingor folding of the edging takes place progressively during the advance ofthe panel on the working plane, following the bonding of the firstlateral, adhesive zone and before cutting the ends of the edging.

The invention also relates to a machine for bonding an adhesiveprotection edging to a straight edge of a multilayer panel,characterized in that it comprises:

a working plane able to receive the panel,

a reel for storing the adhesive protective edging, placed below theworking plane,

a means for removing a first anti-adhesive protector covering a firstlateral, adhesive zone of the edging on leaving the storage reel,

a slit formed in the working plane, for the passage of the first lateralzone on the working plane, at a location below a first face of thepanel, along the straight edge,

means for applying pressure to the panel resting on the working plane,along the straight edge,

means for bending the edging on the opposite face of the panel and

a means for removing a second anti-adhesive protector covering a second,lateral, adhesive zone of the edging.

In the first embodiment of the invention, the means for bending orfolding the edging comprise a bending hinge articulated on the workingplane, downstream of said slit. The pressure application means thencomprise a rule which can be placed on the panel along its straight edgeand in front of the bending hinge.

In the second embodiment of the invention, the edging bending meanscomprise a bending guide fixed to the working plane, so as to ensure aprogressive bending of the edging during its advance on the workingplane. The bending means also include a bending roller, which pressesthe second lateral, adhesive zone of the edging against the oppositeface of the panel, downstream of the bending guide and upstream of themeans for removing the second anti-adhesive protector.

In the latter case, the machine also has a bonding roller, which pressesthe second lateral, adhesive zone of the edging against the oppositeface of the panel, downstream of the means for removing the secondanti-adhesive protector. Cutting means are then placed downstream of thebonding roller.

In the second embodiment of the invention, the pressure applicationmeans advantageously comprise a pressing shoe or block placed above theworking plane, along the straight edge of the panel and extendingdownstream into the vicinity of a downstream end of the bending guide.

The invention is described in greater detail hereinafter relative to twonon-limitative embodiments and with reference to the attached drawings,wherein show:

FIG. 1 A part sectional, perspective view of a straight edge of amultilayer panel such as a spacecraft thermal protection panel coatedwith an adhesive protection edging.

FIG. 2 A perspective view illustrating a first phase of the utilizationof a machine according to the invention, during the bonding of aprotective edging to the straight edge of a panel like that of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 A perspective view illustrating a second phase of the utilizationof the machine of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 A perspective view showing a second embodiment of a bondingmachine according to the invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 designates in general terms a multilayerpanel constituted by a stack of very thin sheets 12. When the panel 10is a superinsulation panel for providing the heat protection of certainsensitive parts of a spacecraft such as a satellite or orbiting station,the sheets 12 forming it can in particular be sheets of KAPTON(registered trademark) aluminized on at least one face, sheets of MYLAR(registered trademark) aluminized on both faces and sheets of DACRON(registered trademark) or glass cloth, arranged in alternating manner.The number of sheets varies as a function of the thermal insulationquality which it is wished to obtain and the nature of the materialsused.

Bearing in mind the nature of the materials constituting certain of thesheets 12 of the stack, the exposure of these sheets to a vacuum and tosolar radiation on the peripheral edge of the panel would lead to therapid destruction of said sheets, at least in the peripheral region ofthe panel. This would lead to an efficiency loss on the part of the heatprotection and in particular to an unacceptable pollution, which wouldrapidly render inoperative the optical systems carried on the craft. Inorder to avoid this risk, it is conventional practice to cover the edgesof the panels 10 with an adhesive protective edging 14, as isdiagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 1.

This adhesive protective edging 14 comprises an adhesive strip 16, whosewidth of e.g. 25 mm is much larger than the thickness of e.g. 4 to 5 mmof the panel 10, as well as a central, non-adhesive strip 18, whosewidth of e.g. 5 mm is equal to or slightly larger than the thickness ofthe panel 10. The adhesive strip 16 and the central, non-adhesive strip18 can in particular be made from KAPTON (registered trademark). Thecentral, non-adhesive strip 18 is bonded beforehand to the centre of theadhesive strip 16, so that the latter has two lateral, adhesive zones20a, 20b on either side of the central, non-adhesive zone constituted bythe strip 18. These lateral, adhesive zones 20a, 20b are intended to bebonded to the opposite faces of the panel 10, along the straight edge ofthe latter which requires protection, as illustrated in FIG. 1.

As has already been stated, the putting into place of the adhesiveprotection edging 14 on the edges of the panels 10 has hitherto takenplace manually. In view of the very limited thickness of the sheets 12and the electrostatic nature of the materials forming certain of thesesheets, the manual putting into place of the adhesive protection edging14 constituted a long and difficult operation requiring the applicationof successive portions of very limited length (less than 100 mm). Thus,the application of longer adhesive protection edgings would have led towrinkling of the sheets 12 creating heat bridges, so that it would notbe possible to obtain the desired heat protection.

According to the invention, the adhesive protection edging 14 is bondedto the straight edges of the panels, such as the panel 10, in such a waythat an unlimited edging length can be deposited in one piece withoutleading to the formation of heat bridges.

A first machine making it possible to perform the bonding process of theinvention will now be described relative to FIGS. 2 and 3. The machineillustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 comprises a preferably horizontal workingplane 22, whereof a straight edge 23 carries two guides 24, 26, whichproject upwards, respectively at the entrance and exit of the workingplane.

The entrance guide 24 is located at the entrance end of the machine, onthe left-hand side in FIGS. 2 and 3. It makes it possible to guide thestraight edge of the panel 10 to be coated with the adhesive protectiveedging 14. This protective edging is wound onto a storage reel 28, whosehorizontal shaft or spindle 30 is positioned below the working plane 22and oriented in a direction orthogonal to the straight edge 23. On thereel 28, each of the adhesive, lateral zones 20a, 20b of the edging 14is covered with an anti-adhesive protector 30a, 30b.

With respect to the straight edge 23 of the working plane 22, the reel28 is positioned laterally in such a way that the lateral, adhesive zone20b of the adhesive protection edging 14 is positioned below the workingplane 22, whereas the rest of the adhesive protection edging 14 (i.e.the central, non-adhesive strip 18 and the other lateral, adhesive zone20a) is positioned beyond the straight edge 23. In addition, the reel 28is located below a slot 32 formed in the straight edge 23 of the workingplane 22, just downstream of the guide 24 with respect to theintroduction direction of the panel 10.

Taking account of the two characteristics described hereinbefore, theadhesive protection edging 14 can be unwound from the reel 28 throughthe slot 32, so that the lateral, adhesive zone 20b rests on the workingplane 22 downstream of the slot 32, along the straight edge 23 of saidplane, the adhesive face of said zone 20b then being turned upwards.Before the adhesive protection edging 14 is brought into this position,the anti-adhesive protector 30b covering the lateral, adhesive zone 20bis disengaged therefrom, below the working plane 22 and as illustratedin FIG. 2.

In that part of the working plane 22 located downstream of the slot 32with respect to the introduction direction of the panel 10, a bending orfolding hinge which is best visible in FIG. 3, is articulated on theedge 23 of the working plane 22, so as to be bent onto the latter, e.g.by acting on a handle 36. The bending hinge 34 extends forwards up tothe exit guide 26.

The bonding machine illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 also comprises a rule38, whose length is at least equal to that of the hinge 34 andpreferably close to that of the working plane 22. On one of its sidesthe rule 38 has a pawl 40 of very limited thickness, which rests on thepanel 10 placed on the working plane 22 and can be placed along the edge23 of the latter. The thickness of the pawl 40 is sufficiently small forthe hinge 34 to be then turned down onto the working plane 22, asillustrated in FIG. 3.

In the vicinity of its end which is to be turned towards the front ofthe machine, the pawl 40 of the rule 38 has a window 42 (FIG. 2), whosefunction will be described hereinafter.

The bonding of an adhesive protection edging 14 to a straight edge of amultilayer panel 10 with the aid of the machine described hereinbeforewith reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 takes place in the following way.

With the rule 38 not placed on the useful part of the working plane 22,the operator deposits the panel 10 on the left-hand entrance end of theworking plane, so that the straight edge to be coated with the adhesiveprotection edging 14 is placed along the straight edge 23 of the workingplane and bears against the entrance guide 24. This putting into placeoccurs in such a way that the edge of the panel 10 turned towards thefront of the machine, i.e. to the right on considering FIGS. 2 and 3,does not cover the slot 32 and is instead in the vicinity thereof.

The operator then unwinds a small length of adhesive protection edging14 from the reel 28 through the slot 32, after having ensured theremoval, below the working plane, of the anti-adhesive protector 30bcovering the lateral, adhesive zone 20b. In order that said removal thentakes place automatically during the unwinding of the adhesiveprotection edging, the end of the anti-adhesive protector 30b can beconnected to a not shown tensioning system. Thus, unwinding takes place,above the working plane 22 and downstream of the slot 32, of a length ofthe adhesive protection edging 14 limited to a few centimeters. In orderto maintain the tension of the adhesive protection edging on leaving thereel 28, its end located above the working plane 22 can also beconnected to a tensioning system such as a counterweight.

When these preparatory operations are ended, the operator advances thepanel 10 on the working plane 22 whilst maintaining the straight edgethereof to be protected in contact with the guide 24. As soon as theface of the panel 10 resting on the working plane 22 passes beyond theslot 32, the part of said face adjacent to the straight edge to beprotected reaches the adhesive, lateral zone 20b of the protectiveedging 14 and is progressively bonded thereto, whilst entraining with itthe edging 14, during its advance on the working plane 22.

In view of the fact that the panel 10 and the adhesive protection edging14 advance simultaneously in the same direction on the working plane 22,bonding easily takes place in a progressive manner over a length whichis not limited in this case other than by the length of the hinge 34.This operation can be performed manually, or with the aid of a paneltraction mechanism not illustrated in the drawings. It continues untilthe leading edge of the panel 10 is flush with the front end of thehinge 34. This gives the position illustrated in FIG. 2.

The adhesive protection edging 14 is then cut in front of the slot 32 byany appropriate cutting system, so that that portion of the edgingprojecting beyond the edge of the panel 10 to be protected can be bentonto the upper face of the latter.

In order that said operation can be performed without any risk of thesheets forming the multilayer panel 10 forming creases leading to thecreation of heat bridges, on said panel 10 and along its straight edgeto be protected, is placed the rule 38, whilst the anti-adhesiveprotector 30a is still in place on the adhesive, lateral zone 20a of theprotective edging 14. The position then occupied by the rule 38 isillustrated by lines in FIG. 3. In this position, the pawl 40 is placedalong the straight edge 23 of the working plane.

The operator then bends the hinge 34 onto the pawl 40 using the handle36. Therefore the adhesive protection edging 14 is preshaped in theposition which it must finally occupy after bonding.

The operator then brings the hinge 34 into its initial, open positionand disengages from the adhesive, lateral zone 20a of the protectiveedging 14 the end of the anti-adhesive protector 30a. More specifically,the operator folds said end substantially to 90° with respect to thestraight edge 23 of the working plane 22 over a relatively small length,but which is still sufficient to ensure that the end of the protectorprojects slightly beyond the hinge 34 when the latter is again bent ontothe upper face of the panel 10. The portion of the lateral, adhesivezone 20a of the protective edging 14 which is no longer covered with itsanti-adhesive protector 30a is then positioned in front of the pawlwindow 42.

The hinge 34 is then bent onto the upper face of the panel 10 and ontothe pawl 40, so that the portion of the lateral, adhesive zone 20ahaving no anti-adhesive protector is bonded to the panel 10 through thewindow 42 of the pawl 40. The rule 38 is then gently removed by theoperator, whilst the hinge 34 remains bent in the manner illustrated inFIG. 3.

To complete the bonding operation, the operator only has to grasp theend of the anti-adhesive protector 30a projecting beyond the hinge 34and pull on said end whilst pressing onto the hinge. The lateral,adhesive zone 20a is then progressively bonded to the upper face of thepanel 10, without any parasitic creases being created in the sheetsforming the said panel.

If the length of the straight edge of the panel 10 which is to beprotected exceeds the length of the hinge 34, as is the case in FIGS. 2and 3, the operation described hereinbefore can be repeated thenecessary number of times until the entire panel edge is covered with aprotective edging. However, it should be noted that the use of a hinge34 longer than that illustrated in the drawings can make it possible toprotect each of the edges of the presently used panels 10 in a singleoperation.

The bonding machine described hereinbefore with reference to FIGS. 2 and3 requires manual interventions, so that it is only usable in connectionwith the manufacture of small numbers of multilayer panels. However,compared with the conventional bonding process, it already leads toessential advantages concerning the duration and cost of the operation.

With reference to FIG. 4, a description will now be given of a preferredembodiment of a bonding machine for performing the process according tothe invention. This machine makes it possible to envisage the bonding ofan adhesive protective edging in a substantially continuous manner onthe straight edges of multilayer panels 10 positioned one after theother on the machine.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, the working plane 22 ismaterialized by the upper face of a conveyor belt 44, which can travelon a horizontal table 46. The straight edge to be protected of each ofthe panels 10 placed on the conveyor belt 44 is positioned along thestraight edge 23 of the table 46 and guided to the entrance and exitthereof by an entrance guide 24 and an exit guide 26.

As in the first embodiment described relative to FIGS. 2 and 3, themachine of FIG. 4 has a storage reel 28 onto which is wound the adhesiveprotective edging 14. The horizontal spindle of the reel 28 isorthogonal to the straight edge 23 of the table 46. This reel 28 isplaced below the table 46 facing the slot 32 formed in the edge 23, sothat the lateral, adhesive zone 20b of the protective edging 14 can beplaced on the upper face of the table 46, along the edge 23, alongsidethe conveyor belt 44 and in front of the slot 32. The adhesive face ofthe lateral, adhesive zone 20b turned towards the upwards direction whenit arrives on the upper face of the table 46, then loses itsanti-adhesive protector 30b, which is detached from the edging 14 belowthe table 46 and is then e.g. rewound onto a mandrel 48.

The bonding machine illustrated in FIG. 4 also comprises a pressingblock 38, which is permanently applied to the upper face of the panels10 placed on the working plane 22 along the straight edge 23 of thetable 46. In its portion closest to the edge 23, the pressing block 38has a reduced thickness pawl 40. The pressing block 38 can be connectedto the table 46 by brackets 50. A regulatable, elastic system 52 isadvantageously provided between each of the brackets 50 and the pressingblock 38, so as to be able to engage the latter on the upper face of thepanels 10 with a substantially constant force, no matter what thethickness of said panels.

Downstream of the slot 32 with respect to the advance direction of theconveyor belt 44, the straight edge 23 of the table 46 carries a bendingguide 54 making it possible to progressively bend down onto the pawl 40that part of the adhesive protection edging 14 projecting beyond theedge 23, as the panels 10 and the protective edging 14 advance on theworking plane 22. In the embodiment of FIG. 4, said bending guideincorporates pins 54. However, the bending guide could also assume anyother configuration and in particular that of a continuous spout.

Immediately downstream of the bending guide 54 and the adjacent end ofthe pressing block 38, the bending of the adhesive protection edging 14is completed by a pressing roller 56 supported by the exit guide 26.This horizontally axed pressing roller 56 is placed above the workingplane 22 and positioned transversely with respect to the advancedirection of the conveyor belt 44. It applies a controlled pressure tothe upper face of each of the panels 10 travelling on the belt, as wellas to that portion of the adhesive protection edging 14 folded onto saidupper face by the folding guide 54. This pressure can advantageously beregulated, particularly to take account of the thickness of the panels10.

Immediately downstream of the pressing roller 50 with respect to theadvance direction of the conveyor belt 44, the exit guide 26 alsosupports, substantially above the working plane 22, a mandrel 58 ontowhich is wound the anti-adhesive protector 30a. It should be noted thatsaid protector is only removed at this level and covers the lateral,adhesive zone 20a of the protective edging 14 folded onto the upper faceof the panel 10 up to the pressing roller 56. In the same way as themandrel 48 used for the winding up of the anti-adhesive protector 30b,the mandrel 58 can be driven by a motor.

Immediately downstream of the mandrel 58 used for removing theanti-adhesive protector 30a from the lateral, adhesive zone 20a of theprotective edging 14, the bonding of said edging is completed by meansof a bonding pressing roller 60 supported by the exit guide 26. Thisbonding pressing roller has essentially the same characteristics as thebending pressing roller 56, i.e. it is placed above the working plane22, along a horizontal axis and is transversely oriented with respect tothe advance direction of the conveyor belt 44, so as to apply apredetermined force to the upper face of the panels 10 and to thatportion of the adhesive protective edging 14 turned down onto said face.When the panels 10 pass out of the pressing roller 60, the bonding ofthe adhesive protective edging 14 is completed.

Finally, downstream of the bonding pressing roller 60, the edge 23 ofthe table 46 supports a preferably motorized cutting device 62. Theactuation of the cutting device 62 makes it possible to cut the adhesiveprotective edging 14 behind the trailing edge of a group of panels 10.

The starting of the machine according to FIG. 4 takes place in the sameway as described relative to the machine of FIGS. 2 and 3. As soon asthe lateral, adhesive zone 20b of the adhesive protective edging 14starts to stick below the panel 10, the edging is moved with the panelby the conveyor belt 44. If necessary, tensioning strips such as 64 canbe bonded to the front of each of the panels to ensure that the uppersheets of the panels do not bend when they pass below the pressingrollers 56, 60 or to ensure that the panels are not positioned slantwiseduring their advance on the machine. An identical system can be used fortensioning the front end of the adhesive protective edging 14.

The above description shows that the bonding process according to theinvention can be performed in a more or less automated manner, as afunction of the desired production rates. However, in all cases, thisprocess makes it possible to bond adhesive protective edgings tovirtually unlimited lengths without any risk of creating heat bridgeswithin the panels. This leads to a considerable time and financial gaincompared with the hitherto used procedures for performing the sameoperations.

We claim:
 1. Machine for bonding an adhesive protection edging to astraight edge of a multilayer panel, said bonding machine comprising:aworking plane able to receive the panel, a reel for storing the adhesiveprotective edging, placed below the working plane, a means for removinga first anti-adhesive protector covering a first lateral, adhesive zoneof the edging on leaving the storage reel, a slit formed in the workingplane, for the passage of the first lateral adhesive zone on the workingplane, at a location below a first face of the panel, along a straightedge of the panel, means for applying pressure to the panel resting onthe working plane, along the straight edge of the panel, means forbending the edging onto the opposite face of the panel and a meanspositioned downstream from said bending means for removing a secondanti-adhesive protector covering a second, later, adhesive zone of theedging.
 2. Machine according to claim 1, further comprising a lateralguide against which is placed the straight edge of the panel upstream ofthe slot formed in the working plane.
 3. Machine according to claim 1,wherein the edging bending means comprise a bending hinge articulated onthe working plane downstream of said slot.
 4. Machine according to claim3, wherein the pressure application means comprise a rule which can beplaced above the working plane in front of the bending hinge.
 5. Machineaccording to claim 1, wherein the edging bending means comprise abending guide fixed to the working plane so as to ensure a progressivebending of the edging during its advance on the working plane. 6.Machine according to claim 5, wherein the bending means also comprise abending roller pressing the second lateral, adhesive zone of the edgingagainst the opposite face of the panel downstream of the bending guideand upstream of a means for removing the second anti-adhesive protector.7. Machine according to claim 6, comprising a bonding roller pressingthe second lateral, adhesive zone of the edging against the oppositeface of the panel downstream of the means for removing the secondanti-adhesive protector.
 8. Machine according to claim 7, whereincutting means are positioned downstream of the bonding roller. 9.Machine according to claim 5, further comprising a pressure applicationmeans comprising a pressing block placed above the working plane, alongthe straight edge of the panel and extending downstream to the vicinityof a downstream end of the bending guide.